<div dir="ltr"><div>"the war of the future is a mental war"<br><br></div>how could we uncover smear campaigns like this one? this is an interesting topic I'd like to explore. <br><div><br>
<ul id="sharebar" style="background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255,255,255);border-color:rgb(204,204,204);margin-top:0px;width:75px;display:block"><li>
<br></li><li>
a<br></li><li><br></li><li>
<br></li></ul><div class="">
<div class="">
<div id="blog-header-banner" class="">
<img class="" src="http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/lee_fang_100.jpg" alt="Lee Fang" title="Lee Fang">
<h2><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/lee-fang">Lee Fang</a></h2>
<div class=""><div class=""><ul class=""><li class=""><br></li><li class=""><div class=""><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/168901/feed" class=""><img src="http://www.thenation.com/misc/feed.png" alt="Syndicate content" title="" height="16" width="16"> RSS Feed</a></div>
</li></ul></div></div>
<div class="">
<p>Investigating the intersection of politics, lobbying and public policy.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div></div>
<h2><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/177376/former-wal-mart-exec-leads-shadowy-smear-campaign-against-black-friday-activists" title="Former Walmart Exec Leads Shadowy Smear Campaign Against Black Friday Activists">Former Walmart Exec Leads Shadowy Smear Campaign Against Black Friday Activists</a></h2>
<div class=""><a href="http://www.thenation.com/authors/lee-fang">Lee Fang</a> <span class=""><abbr class="" title="2013-11-26T15:16:15-18000">on November 26, 2013 - 3:16 PM ET</abbr></span></div>
<div class=""><br><div class=""><div class=""><ul class=""><li class=""><br></li></ul></div></div><p>As activists continue to organize demonstrations at McDonalds, Walmart and other low-wage firms, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/walmart-protests-2013_n_4319420.html" target="_blank">big protests</a>
are planned against retailers for mistreating their workers this Black
Friday. In response, union-busting consultants are ramping up efforts to
marginalize them.</p>
<p>Last night—Worker Center Watch, a new website dedicated to attacking
labor-affiliated activist groups like OUR Walmart, Restaurant
Opportunities Center, and Fast Food Forward—began <a href="https://twitter.com/WC_Watch" target="_blank">sponsoring</a>
advertisements on Twitter to promote smears against the protests
planned for Black Friday. In one video sponsored by the group, activists
demanding a living wage and better working conditions for workers are
portrayed as lazy “professional protesters” who “haven’t bothered to get
jobs themselves.”</p>
<p>“This Black Friday, just buy your gifts, not their lies,” instructs the Worker Center Watch narrator. Watch it:</p>
<center></center>
<p>Worker Center Watch has no information its website about its
sponsors. Yet the group attacks labor activists and community labor
groups for lacking transparency. “Hiding behind these non-profits,
unions mask their true motivations, circumvent operational requirements
and skirt reporting and disclosure obligations,” <a href="http://www.workercenterwatch.com/about/" target="_blank">says</a> Worker Center Watch, referring to labor-supported worker centers like OUR Walmart.</p>
<p>TheNation.com has discovered that Worker Center Watch was <a href="http://whois.polodomains.com/domain/O88QLBx68p8YKICdThulRHN1yWAQng29_info.html" target="_blank">registered</a>
by the former head lobbyist for Walmart. Parquet Public Affairs, a
Florida-based government relations and crisis management firm for
retailers and fast food companies, registered the Worker Center Watch
website.</p>
<p>The firm is led by <a href="http://www.parquetpa.com/index.php/who-we-are/" target="_blank">Joseph Kefauver</a>,
formerly the president of public affairs for Walmart and government
relations director for Darden Restaurants. Throughout the year, Parquet
executives <a href="http://www.cueinc.com/pdf/conferences/2013_fall_conference_flyer.pdf" target="_blank">have toured</a> the country, giving <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/assets/htmldocuments/2012%20LABOR%20CONFERENCE%20BROCHURE%20-%20WEB%20ONLY.pdf" target="_blank">lectures</a> to business groups on how to combat the rise of what has been called “alt-labor.” At a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/187341531/New-Labor-Management-Challenges-Kefauver" target="_blank">presentation</a>
in October for the National Retail Federation, a trade group for
companies like Nordstrom and Nike, Kefauver’s presentation listed
protections against wage theft, a good minimum wage and mandated paid
time off as the type of legislative demands influenced by the worker
center protesters.</p>
<p>The presentation <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/187341531/New-Labor-Management-Challenges-Kefauver" target="_blank">offered questions</a> for the group, including: “How Aggressive Can We Be?” and “How do We Challenge the Social Justice Narrative?”</p>
<p>It seems retailers are now experimenting with how aggressive they can be. Today, Parquet’s Worker Center Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/WC_Watch/status/405307792073842689">posted</a>
a link to a Breitbart News story featuring a video allegedly obtained
by someone who infiltrated an Occupy activist group planning to
demonstrate against Walmart.</p>
<p>The alarm at how quickly the new organizing model has taken off has
sparked anxiety among business executives. Littler Mendelson, a law firm
that helps companies defeat labor unions, released a <a href="http://www.littler.com/category/wordpress-category/union-front-organizations" target="_blank">report</a>
outlining the challenge for corporate executives. The US Chamber of
Commerce, a dark-money group that counts Walmart and McDonalds as
members, <a href="http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2013/november/us-chamber-report-shows-union-front-groups-receiving-millions" target="_blank">produced</a> a similar study last week.</p>
<p>Corporations fear that the new wave of activism could have a
multiplier effect that goes way beyond better pay and benefits for their
workers.</p>
<p style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(191,14,21);font-weight:bold;font-size:14px;text-align:center"><a href="https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(191,14,21);font-weight:bold;font-size:14px;text-align:center;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!</a></p>
<p>In a webinar hosted this month for business executives seeking a “union-free workplace,” Nancy Jowske <a href="http://lrionline.com/webinar-black-friday-update" target="_blank">explained</a>
that the alt-labor model could heavily influence millennials and their
perceptions of labor unions. “One of the things to consider about what’s
going there with SEIU’s Fight for 15 and all of this is the millennial
generation,” said Jowske, a former SEIU organizer turned union-buster,
“they are getting a steady diet of pro-union from every possible
direction." She added, "this is also a generation that is very
class-conscious” and explained that the current alt-labor protests could
incite future organizing drives. Jowske also cited a <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15826/fight_for_15_confidential/" target="_blank">recent</a> <em>In These Times</em>
piece to argue that worker centers can be portrayed as “union front
groups,” and warned that the alt-labor organizing model could have a
long-term impact. For instance, the organizing model appears to help
unions and community groups forge close ties that could be later used to
deploy activists for political campaigns, workplace NLRB elections and
other left-wing causes.</p>
<p><em>Bryce Covert <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/177361/why-women-workers-are-risk-averse-and-thats-okay" target="_blank">talks about</a> how women’s eye for the long term makes them valuable workers.</em></p>
</div><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><br><div><br></div><div>=============================</div><div><br></div><div>Romy Ilano</div><div><a href="mailto:romy@snowyla.com" target="_blank">romy@snowyla.com</a></div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div>
</div></div></div>